China, Hebei Province’s plan to strengthen measures against plastic pollution 
On July 19, 2020, the Development and Reform Commission, with the Department of Ecology and Environment of Hebei Province announced a plan to further strengthen measures against plastic pollution. The main content of the plan is as follows:
Plastic products that are prohibited from production or sale (in all of the Province)
| Type of product | Requirements | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Already prohibited | End of 2020 | End of 2022 | End of 2025 | |
| 1.plastic bag with a thickness of less than 0.025mm | production and sale | |||
| 2.polyethylene agricultural multi-film with a thickness of less than 0.01 mm | production and sale | |||
| 3.plastic products made from medical waste | Production | |||
| 4.waste plastic | Import | |||
| 5.disposable foamed plastic tableware | production and sale | |||
| 6.disposable plastic swabs | production and sale | |||
| 7.household chemicals containing microbeads | production | sale | ||
Plastic products that are prohibited or restricted from using
| 1.nondegradable plastic bag | |
|---|---|
| To be prohibited by 2020 | usage in shopping centers, supermarkets, drugstores, bookstores, restaurant take-out services, and various exhibitions in urban areas such as Shijiazhuang city, Chengde city, Qinhuangdao city, Xiong’an new district, Chongli area of Zhangjiakou city, etc. |
| To be prohibited by 2022 | usage in each city and Linkong economic zone of Beijing Daxing international airport, shopping centers, supermarkets, drugstores, bookstores, restaurant take-out services, and various exhibitions in the prefectural city (the location of the prefectural government) in the coastal area |
| To be prohibited by 2025 | usage at periodic market in urban areas of each city, Chongli area of Zhangjiakou city, pre-development zone of Xiong’an new district, economic zone of Beijing Daxing international airport, prefectural city in the coastal area |
| 2.nondegradable and disposable plastic straw | |
| To be prohibited by 2020 | usage in the restaurant business |
| 3. disposable plastic tableware | |
| To be prohibited by 2020 | usage in urban areas of each city, Chongli area of Zhangjiakou city, pre-development zone of Xiong’an new district, economic zone of Beijing Daxing international airport, eat-in spaces of each internal tourist area. |
| To be prohibited by 2022 | usage in urban areas of each city(prefectural capital) and each eat-in spaces at scenic spots of the city’s urban zone. |
Besides, the plan also mentions some measures that the province government takes for plastic pollution, such as tax reliefs for companies producing biodegradable plastic products, and strengthening the crackdown on the production, sale, collection or usage of plastic products.
The original text of the plan can be viewed from the following URL (Simplified Chinese).
http://hbdrc.hebei.gov.cn/web/web/zcfg_szcfg/2c94738473a43f0e0173b1ed436258ef.htm
